$3,000 is a lot, but that's nothing compared to what Queen Elizabeth paid for one. The sources vary on the amount, but it's said she spent about £10,000 for a jewel encrusted horn which she used as a sceptre and which many believed came from a unicorn and could detect poison.
If that sounds like a lot, keep in mind, that's £10,000 in the 16th century. That amount was enough to buy a small castle and when adjusted to today's values is somewhere between 3 and 7 million USD.
I came across this story during my research as well, and it's really interesting to see how valuable they were at that time. I guess they really believed them to come from unicorns!
Did you come across the hypothesis that the norse traders knew exactly where they came from, but encouraged the mythology
(and closely guarded the secret) to make more money when selling horns?
No, I didn't. But that's really cool! Totally sounds like something the norse traders would do though, and it makes for a really cool story.
A way of fooling the rich one's indeed...
Rich people often think that buying unique mystic things will make them look more noble and posses good taste...
That's true. And it's a huge problem for many of the species who are being hunted and killed for this industry.